That bad old Indian feeling of waiting for the declaration is back. In fact it never went away, even when the team was doing well and rising towards No. 1 or defending that ranking. It happened against South Africa in Nagpur, against New Zealand in Napier, against Sri Lanka in Galle, against South Africa in Centurion and against England in all four Tests. More than any other team, India come out looking bad - it is a matter of relative speaking, really, because teams don't come out looking good after such days.

It is a difficult time to be in the field when your batting has failed, and the opposition can bat freely because of the meagreness of your total. At some point or the other, every team has to face these situations in Test cricket. With modern scoring rates, you tend to come out having conceded close to 350 runs on an average. Some teams deal with these days better than others. India isn't one of those teams. They don't do this well; they have never done this well.

They have five fielders who aren't particularly agile. Virat Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Ishant Sharma and MS Dhoni are about the only fielders you want on the field in such situations. Ishant is the surprise inclusion there, but whatever results and despite not being a natural athlete, he is one man who always wants the ball to come to him, the one man always ready to charge in. India aren't going to ever behave like New Zealand and South Africa do in such circumstances, with men diving all over the place, and making it tough for the opposition to get quick runs. This is a handicap India have worked around for some time now, but it becomes exaggerated when waiting for a declaration. And this really is the best possible XI they can field right now, in that you can't think of a more agile man who can replace the other five who are slow in the field.

The India bowlers aren't really good control bowlers, except when it's spinners at home or reverse-swing at home, when they can choke things up even when the side is down. And they have come back from such situations, but those cases are fast getting consigned to the distant past. The inconsistent bowling away from home also translates into their captain spreading the fields sooner than he should. You cannot fault the effort of the bowlers, as R Ashwin kept repeating at the post-day press conference, but India are quicker than others to throw the concept of slowing runs down through wickets to the wind, which is a combination of an inconsistent attack and captaincy.

It is a matter of finer details if you want to see when teams go on the defensive on such days, but it is an important detail. Ashwin came on to bowl at 3 for 99, with Australia still 92 behind and the fourth-wicket partnership reading 62. He began with a deep point and a deep midwicket. Ashwin said he did so because there were few runs to play with, and he didn't want to give away boundaries before he settled down to a proper line and length. That says a lot about the mindset of the side.

"What else do you do with 190 in the pocket?" Ashwin said. "You'll have to save every run possible. Supposing you get two or three wickets later on, and someone is having a good spell, we have those runs to play with later. That has got to be the only idea. It's common sense. Nothing else."

All said and done, today was hardly surprising or sinful. If something on a cricket field is serious enough to be termed a sin, it was committed yesterday, when the famed batting line-up was bowled out for 191 after choosing to bat first. And India in the field - not the bowling unit exclusively, but the team overall - are quicker than others to step back and hope the batsmen bail them out in the second dig. And wait for the declaration.

That's what India did today. The declaration will eventually arrive sometime tomorrow. Bowling Australia out now will not be much better either. Some time tomorrow, the behemoth will be asked to start rolling. If it doesn't, it will never win a series in Australia.

@SirViv1973 and others - Do you people now understand why we Indians do not want Dhoni as a captain in our test team? He does NOT lead by example in tests but has great ability to lead as an example in ODIs. By the way, seems to be common theme for lots of non-Indian supporters but INDIAN MEDIA is obsessed with Sachin's ton, not fans. If you see 1 or 2 fans here and there comment about it does not make it majority. Please get that out of your heads. We DO NOT care for Sachin's 100 especially in a losing cause. Winning in Aus or outside of subcontinents is more important. If you can be bullies at home, then next goal is to be good competitors abroad but you can't expect yourself to be great abroad if you can't win at home. Yes India dominate in India but so does recent Eng and Australia of the past. I don't understand why its such a huge deal if Indians do something but not if any other countries do it. Why isn't Pak, Sri Lanka, South Africa dominant in their home grounds if its easy?

on January 5, 2012, 15:48 GMT

Definitely India will loose 4-0 , Ishanth is nt fully fit n not able to take wickets in England and here also...Sehwag, Gambir, Sachin are strugling for centuries..... Suddenly by alll these effects made Dravid n Laxman also lost touch very badly.. Dhoni no more can take responsibility(taking second ball single n giving strike to no.11 batsmen). Only remedy to get boosted is to Get Irfan Pathan out there in Eleven ASAP instead of Kohli.....

on January 5, 2012, 3:22 GMT

Clarke u r grt.. 2 and half days left, ur just 5 away from australian record , and 75 from world record . Your decision is a great lesson to Dhoni and Indian fans who pleading for tendulkar century .

on January 5, 2012, 2:41 GMT

@ rajaram no offence intended either . it was just painful to see this Indian team has no intention to win a session let alone a test match . once again good to see you being positive. cheers

on January 5, 2012, 2:35 GMT

@ Rajaram Janardhanan mate i like your optimism .But in that series Laxman was in terrific form and he was 57 not out in the first innings . Besides he found an able ally in Dravid and the lead was 274 . But here the lead is above 400 thus far and am pretty much sure that the these guys are not going give us anything less than 500+ . Laxman's sores in this series have all been single digit ones and Dravid looked like anything but a batsman and aussies have sorted them out to an extent . Mate there is no shame in accepting defeat at the hands of a team which has played far superior cricket and the hunger to perform is missing in most of the batsmen except Tendulkar and to an extent Ashwin . So just come out of the past glory and accept the reality. cheers

on January 5, 2012, 2:20 GMT

India! Arise, Awake and Stop not till the goal is reached

OzWally
on January 5, 2012, 1:58 GMT

Thank you Chapelau. Finally someone brings up a great point. Why is it only Tendulkar mentioned when bringing up the greatest of all time (after Bradman of course). Jacque Kallis now over 12,000 runs with a better ave. (56.24 compared to SRT's 56.00) AND 271 wickets. Think of how far ahead Tendulkar is in total runs purely because he debuted so young. How many decent teams can afford to debut a 17 yo?

Nageshman
on January 5, 2012, 1:53 GMT

My prediction for this match - India will be bowled out for less than 200 and it will be a shameful innings defeat. Next two matches - India is certain to lose. It is a 4-0 humiliating loss. We always refuse to learn.

Nageshman
on January 5, 2012, 1:51 GMT

Indians never take hard decisions. I think its time for Gambhir, Kohli and Laxman to go. I wonder why Rahne wasnt picked up for the opening slot. Similarly, why Kohli is preferred over Rohit. Rohit Sharma is determined and persists himself at the crease when things are falling apart.

Meety
on January 5, 2012, 1:51 GMT

@Full-Blooded-Wallop - LOL! As at Lunch on Day 3, there is about 240 overs left in the match. Oz will bat till around Tea time, & have a lead close to 600. India will have to bat for around 200 overs to save the match, it is highly unlikely Oz will even have to think about batting again. Strong chance that India will surrender, particularly if Sehwag fails, they all rollover, with Dravid or Dhoni being the last man standing. Strong chance of a record defeat for India. Pattinson, Siddle & Hilfy will be nice & rested!
@Biggus - Tubby Taylor is my pick as the best captain I've ever seen, an honourable mention to the Black caps Fleming. I think Clarke could match them!

Precioustar84
on January 7, 2012, 2:51 GMT

@SirViv1973 and others - Do you people now understand why we Indians do not want Dhoni as a captain in our test team? He does NOT lead by example in tests but has great ability to lead as an example in ODIs. By the way, seems to be common theme for lots of non-Indian supporters but INDIAN MEDIA is obsessed with Sachin's ton, not fans. If you see 1 or 2 fans here and there comment about it does not make it majority. Please get that out of your heads. We DO NOT care for Sachin's 100 especially in a losing cause. Winning in Aus or outside of subcontinents is more important. If you can be bullies at home, then next goal is to be good competitors abroad but you can't expect yourself to be great abroad if you can't win at home. Yes India dominate in India but so does recent Eng and Australia of the past. I don't understand why its such a huge deal if Indians do something but not if any other countries do it. Why isn't Pak, Sri Lanka, South Africa dominant in their home grounds if its easy?

on January 5, 2012, 15:48 GMT

Definitely India will loose 4-0 , Ishanth is nt fully fit n not able to take wickets in England and here also...Sehwag, Gambir, Sachin are strugling for centuries..... Suddenly by alll these effects made Dravid n Laxman also lost touch very badly.. Dhoni no more can take responsibility(taking second ball single n giving strike to no.11 batsmen). Only remedy to get boosted is to Get Irfan Pathan out there in Eleven ASAP instead of Kohli.....

on January 5, 2012, 3:22 GMT

Clarke u r grt.. 2 and half days left, ur just 5 away from australian record , and 75 from world record . Your decision is a great lesson to Dhoni and Indian fans who pleading for tendulkar century .

on January 5, 2012, 2:41 GMT

@ rajaram no offence intended either . it was just painful to see this Indian team has no intention to win a session let alone a test match . once again good to see you being positive. cheers

on January 5, 2012, 2:35 GMT

@ Rajaram Janardhanan mate i like your optimism .But in that series Laxman was in terrific form and he was 57 not out in the first innings . Besides he found an able ally in Dravid and the lead was 274 . But here the lead is above 400 thus far and am pretty much sure that the these guys are not going give us anything less than 500+ . Laxman's sores in this series have all been single digit ones and Dravid looked like anything but a batsman and aussies have sorted them out to an extent . Mate there is no shame in accepting defeat at the hands of a team which has played far superior cricket and the hunger to perform is missing in most of the batsmen except Tendulkar and to an extent Ashwin . So just come out of the past glory and accept the reality. cheers

on January 5, 2012, 2:20 GMT

India! Arise, Awake and Stop not till the goal is reached

OzWally
on January 5, 2012, 1:58 GMT

Thank you Chapelau. Finally someone brings up a great point. Why is it only Tendulkar mentioned when bringing up the greatest of all time (after Bradman of course). Jacque Kallis now over 12,000 runs with a better ave. (56.24 compared to SRT's 56.00) AND 271 wickets. Think of how far ahead Tendulkar is in total runs purely because he debuted so young. How many decent teams can afford to debut a 17 yo?

Nageshman
on January 5, 2012, 1:53 GMT

My prediction for this match - India will be bowled out for less than 200 and it will be a shameful innings defeat. Next two matches - India is certain to lose. It is a 4-0 humiliating loss. We always refuse to learn.

Nageshman
on January 5, 2012, 1:51 GMT

Indians never take hard decisions. I think its time for Gambhir, Kohli and Laxman to go. I wonder why Rahne wasnt picked up for the opening slot. Similarly, why Kohli is preferred over Rohit. Rohit Sharma is determined and persists himself at the crease when things are falling apart.

Meety
on January 5, 2012, 1:51 GMT

@Full-Blooded-Wallop - LOL! As at Lunch on Day 3, there is about 240 overs left in the match. Oz will bat till around Tea time, & have a lead close to 600. India will have to bat for around 200 overs to save the match, it is highly unlikely Oz will even have to think about batting again. Strong chance that India will surrender, particularly if Sehwag fails, they all rollover, with Dravid or Dhoni being the last man standing. Strong chance of a record defeat for India. Pattinson, Siddle & Hilfy will be nice & rested!
@Biggus - Tubby Taylor is my pick as the best captain I've ever seen, an honourable mention to the Black caps Fleming. I think Clarke could match them!

Precioustar84
on January 5, 2012, 1:27 GMT

@ SirViv1973 - Dhoni isn't a scapegoat. Quite often Indian fans on various sites have said that Dhoni is not suitable TEST player especially let alone a captain and has been lucky to get attention off of him. He doesn't back up or show confidence in players(reason why some players are warming the benches still) and doesnt take risks(hence only defense, no attack field). He is only suitable and successive in ODIs. Had he not been a captain, he wouldn't even be included in the playing XI in tests. The only reason you may not have noticed fans criticizing louder is because we had bigger issues than just him but he continuously says in press that "we have to take the positives and learn from our mistakes" so he brought this on himself - has he learned any of his own mistakes? No! Cricinfo please publish

oleg_mcnoleg
on January 5, 2012, 1:09 GMT

India are a dead man walking. Anyone suggesting Mukund is the answer to the openers problem failed to watch him in England where he looked way out of his depth. His time may come - but he needs runs in an environment which is more testing than the Ranji Trophy. Of the middle order - Rohit should get a go but for me, Pujara looks technically much more competent and probably presents the best future for Indian middle order - assuming he fully recovers from his injuries.
The bowling attack just looks feeble - Zaheer is a bit of an exception, but only in small doses these days - and their lack of combined skill/experience reflects in a lack of confidence all round - including Dhoni's utter defensiveness.
I don't think there's an easy way back from here for India - and whilst the domestic game is sustained by a first class game built on easy (and plentiful) runs and 20 over thrashes there won't be a way back for a long while.

snail29
on January 5, 2012, 1:01 GMT

Laxman and Gambhir should be dropped over the past year they have not been performing at all. Also, Dhoni seems to lack a killer instinct and i feel that his field placings are way too defensive.

sritheking
on January 5, 2012, 0:49 GMT

Defnitely v will reply back strong for aussies... hope v guys going to enjoy the special innings from sehwag n sachin later in this test.. lets our hope be high... have a great day guys...

on January 5, 2012, 0:19 GMT

It is time for BCCI to take a good hard look at itself in the mirror and make wholesale changes for the honor of the great nation. If they cant find 2 cricketer an year out of a billion they are incapable of holding any position on the board.

mmond4
on January 5, 2012, 0:16 GMT

India has batted abjectly in this series (and the previous England series), and full credit to Australia for their bowling performance in the series so far. But batting better on home pitches than away is not a particularly Indian trait as some here seem to think, at least not in recent years:

Look at the top 10 scorers in *away* Tests, and you see Dravid, Tendulkar and Laxman in the top 3, and only Ponting from Aus in the top 10. In *home* tests, Laxman no longer figures in the top 10, Ponting rises to the top and Hayden appear in the top 10.

Clarke and Ponting top the Test averages for Australia in away Tests over the last 5 years, averaging 44.26 and 39.78. Their average in home Tests, however, is much higher at 58.78 and 43.29.

Tendulkar, Gambhir and Sehwag top the averages for India in away Tests in the last 5 years (58.6, 45.65, 44.57) , with each of their averages higher than Clarke's average away.(In home Tests, Sehwag averages 64.02 and Tendulkar 59.61)

on January 5, 2012, 0:14 GMT

Face facts India you have a team that plays for the personal goals of their batsmen ie Dravid, Tendulkar and Laxman and they want to play on flat tracks that get prepared for them at home. No wonder they fail as a team fail overseas when they play on pitches that give a bit to the bowler.
And do not try covering the cracks by saying Australia is on the way up - sorry in a season or 2 there will only be 1 or 2 of Australia top 7 in the batting order still in the team. I believe the fast bowling side is going to very good and very deep for the next decade but no new batting stars knocking the door down.
Yesterday India were put under pressure by Ponting, Clarke and Hussey and they dropped their bundle early. It is embarrassing to watch them concede and simply wait for Australia to declare, they should be out there this morning giving it a real go but I think they will meekly accept Australia are on top and sleep walk through the day.

on January 4, 2012, 23:48 GMT

as someone pointed out the batsman and bowlers coming through just dont have that experience they need. Look at the titan three of india. yes they are going through a bad spell atm but they have played overseas cricket for clubs to acclimatise and so forth and it shows in the way they are generally dependable anywhere. Bowlers of india if they want to do well also need to go play abroad for clubs, not stupid pointless ipl cricket or ridiculous numbers of similarly pointless odi's. BCCI need to make this the case. England fast bowlers went on bowling camps before heading out to uae. No such thing in india. If batsman dont do well tomorrow, the beginning of the end for (laxman most likely) the titans is nigh.

on January 4, 2012, 23:38 GMT

India are worse than any other team while they play abroad. I think these "home champions" should be play only in their country with their umpires otherwise their test status will be in danger very soon.
Agreed w/ Imran Anwar that
"Why not remove India's test status to play anywhere in the world except home. It may turn out good for them and they will regain #1 position"
Furthremore, I also want Sachin to score his 100th century because whenever he has scored a century India has lost most of the times. Although great player but not a great match finisher

shahbazhussain
on January 4, 2012, 23:33 GMT

Test cricket is dead in India. I see no future of Test cricket in india. All other nations honor a lot the longest version which actually is the true spirit of Cricket. Why do we call it TEST? Because there are several things each individual and entire team put on challenge and ready to TEST theirs stamina, passion, desire, hope, dedication, courage, inspiration, technique, logic, keenness, willingness, aggression, determination and lots many other skills that teams put on challenge collectively like the national pride, the power to demolish the opposition in the battle field. There are many things o test..... but all asian teams are on decline with this true spirit. I see Pakistan are little better than other 3 but their real TEST will be their confrontation with England in 3rd week. I hope the teams and the boards will do something about the cricket which is really a gentlemen's game. I dont see real gentlemen other than 3 teams. England, Australia and South Africa.

on January 4, 2012, 23:26 GMT

To SpartaArmy
Sparta if Indian don't want to play test cricket then thats fine. But to have the gaul to ask for the BCCI to influence (again) the ICC is typical of your attitude to cricket; you don't love the game as so many around the world do; you just influence it for influence sake, for power and for greed! Go and abuse someone's elses game we don't want people like u in cricket! The Test match is still the pinicle of cricket and always will be.

on January 4, 2012, 23:22 GMT

Hi everybody, I can understand the feelings of everybody,but just to comment on a positive side of it,who knows guys there might be a repeat of the 2001 calcuuta test waiting in this test still to come,you never know ,of course i know the team is not as young as then now, but last time when india played in perth,there might have been one in a thousand who predicted that india will win that match and yet they did and that too even without zaheer, that was the day when i stopped predicting cricket matches,cummon guys india may not be the best team, but i think that if australia can score 360 for 1 wicket on this wicket i think we can score atleast 400 with the whole team,anyways no offence to anybody just trying to be positive thats all.

Chapelau
on January 4, 2012, 23:18 GMT

Great day for Clarke and I agree with comments here that he should go on and get as many as he can. Clear that Pakistan are now far and away the best sub continent team. I am also surprised the Indian comments aren't all about someone getting his 100th century ... soon we will be talking about Kallis being that person instead of you know who!

on January 4, 2012, 23:15 GMT

If I were Clarke, I wouldn't be declaring at all. Some 291 runs ahead, the pitch playing well, this being the 2nd day and the need to "tire" India further are among the main reasons.

I would bat all day and into tomorrow morning, if possible, before the declaration. If Clarke gets this right the series is his for the taking.

passionate_cricket_follower
on January 4, 2012, 23:06 GMT

@Nabeel Ameer: Pakistan is really doing a commendable job at the moment. I would be interested to see how they do in England, Australia, and South Africa. India went up to #1 because they played most of their tests at home. This has been brutally exposed now. Bangladesh is not comparable to Pakistan or India. In fact they are worse than Zimbabwe.

on January 4, 2012, 23:00 GMT

no big deal here, india just can win only in home, once laxman,sachin,dravid retire, they will join with nz/wu, surely

Deepak
on January 4, 2012, 23:00 GMT

India have been playing the "Waiting Game" throughout this series (and even before) - and not just while bowling, but also while batting. When we bat, we tend to think - 'oh our bowling is going to bail us out' and when we are bowling, we think - 'our batsmen are going to pummel opposition bowlers'. Sadly, both these things hardly happen (except sometimes in subcontinent).
India needs to learn aggressive cricket. For God's sakes, this is the Aussie batting line-up that was blown away for 47 in SA and then around 120 by NZ! How bad can the pitch be (for bowling) ?

CustomKid
on January 4, 2012, 22:53 GMT

SpartaArmy what are you on about test cricket obsolete??? Yeah right

ahweak
on January 4, 2012, 22:51 GMT

Once the seniors retire, the batting woes will get worse because there aren't enough test quality batsmen in India now. The only place India can think of winning tests is in India (even that is not a given). The demoralizing away defeats will sadly continue for a long time. India should just schedule ODIs and T20s and give up test cricket. They don't even have the physical attributes to match the strong fielding sides.

amastana
on January 4, 2012, 22:38 GMT

Bring back Wasim J. and Pujara replace with Gambhir and Kohli respectively for this series. Also, I would suggest BCCI to reconsider Ishant Sharma, give a chance to Irfan Pathan. 2nd test will be lost by an inning and 200+ runs.

RandyOZ
on January 4, 2012, 22:32 GMT

Haha you know you are struggling when you are waiting for a declaration. I am waiting too. I am waiting for Pattinson to rip through this attack again. We all know these guys can't perform in the second innings when it counts!

RandyOZ
on January 4, 2012, 22:32 GMT

Haha you know you are struggling when you are waiting for a declaration. I am waiting too. I am waiting for Pattinson to rip through this attack again. We all know these guys can't perform in the second innings when it counts!

SpartaArmy
on January 4, 2012, 22:18 GMT

It is a shame to see a team with this batting line up and bowling line up in top 4; I agree there are some great players in this team, but they are not getting younger any more. It is time for BCCI to influence ICC to make TEST cricket obsolete, otherwise craze for cricket will eventually reach its inevitable expiry point in India.

kamalrb
on January 4, 2012, 22:16 GMT

I think Clarke, Hussey and co. due to bat would be simply wasting their energy and time and form if they bat most of 3rd day. Indians would be bundled out under 250 again very easily. Instead they should try to give the top order some batting practice in the 2nd innings in case Indians take a lead in the 2nd innings which if happens would not be more than 100 runs anyways. That way they will give some much needed confidence at the top of the order for the upcoming tests. I see this series going very similar to English summer 0-4 and by this time, most of the Indian fans have gone immune to this.

Harmony111
on January 4, 2012, 22:12 GMT

The main reason of India losing 4-0 in Eng was failure of the batsmen and its the same here too. India were AO from 214/2 to 282 and then couldn't chase 292. Here, on a flat wicket they were AO on day 1 for <200. With little shield of runs,any bowling attack will go for runs though they could have picked more than just 1 wicket and could have at least slowed down the run rate. If suppose Aus were chasing 400 runs in the 4th innings, this same line up would fail 9/10 (but with this Indian bowling anything is possible). Moral is, score runs and lift the over all morale. India did moderately well in SA cos they batted well in the 2nd innings at Newlands. They must do it again here in Sydney. But for that to happen, Aus would need to decide when to declare. I think they will bat for about 50 overs tomorrow, add another 200 runs at least and then ask India to score 500 runs just to equalize with Aus. I doubt it would happen. Indian batsmen can hardly score 200 runs these days. Laxman GTG.

hhillbumper
on January 4, 2012, 21:55 GMT

Lets stop hearing all the excuses.If this team give a damn then came out and fight.Losing to a better team is okay as long as you fight but there does not seem to be any.This is a batting team who have been shot out a number of times in recent years for under 100 and they are rolling all over Indian bowling.It was embarrassing in England and seems to be going the same way in Australia.Show some back bone and fight.Bat like it is something you actually care about.Maybe IPL means you don't give a damn for your country and would rather concentrate on your franchise.Over a Billion population and seemingly not one fighting cricketer amongst them.Ridiculous

on January 4, 2012, 21:51 GMT

I can't believe how many Indian fans are teeing off against Sachin Tendulkar? He's looked the best Indian batsman by far, has scored the most runs for them so far this series, and yet somehow it's HIS fault they are struggling? I don't know what's worse - India's performance so far, or the ill-thought out comments by many of their so-called fans.

Alexk400
on January 4, 2012, 21:42 GMT

Anyone wants to bet ? India all out below 250. That itself i am giving too much runs. Hahaha. Dhoni & Co Not learning from mistakes. We have seen these past 5 overseas test. he refuse to learn because he is one of the batting culpirit. He is a decent tactically more lucky , he is still good captain if we play in india mainly because indian bowlers and batsman play well in india because of crowd energy level. I feel indians in overseas play individually. I can see every one of their moves , they act like they all in their own Island. I don't see people motivate each other , there is no hunger to win. Dhoni and other thinks , everything going to fall on their plate. Not happening in overseas. Aussie and england can white wash india in their Home. can india white wash aussie and england in India ? India struggle to white wash bad west indies team. It is because indians really do not have fighting mentallity top to bottom.

bugs1960
on January 4, 2012, 21:38 GMT

It is mighty sad to see the team crumble now sixth time against quality opposition. What is really baffling though that the same team against Dale Steyn & Morne Morkel who are miles ahead of this oz attack, in South Africa drew the series 1-1 and fell away after wards. In England though we were hampered by absence of Zaheer. Is it something to do with the coach, I wonder. Maybe the calm presence of Gary Kirsten who also understood each member of the team was of very great significance, as the capitulation in tests is after he left not so long ago.......

on January 4, 2012, 21:15 GMT

When you score 190 in the first Innings, the only thing you can do while bowling is go all out and attack. Dhoni's captaincy and fielding placement reeks of someone who doesn't trust his bowlers. Like Chappell, Akram, Ganguly et al keeps saying in the commentary box -- you dont set fields for bad bowling. In a test match, you always set field for good bowling. Bad balls will be punished- deal with it and move on.

ZeeYou
on January 4, 2012, 21:10 GMT

Even a Pakistan side at battle with its own self gave more challenge to the Aussies and would have won had it not been for a certain Kamran Akmal in the SCG test of a couple of years ago. Pakistan also did better than india did in England, taking both the test and the ODI series down to the last decider.

It is ultimately the bowlers who take wickets and win matches- about time India stopped trying to feed of the greatness of a few batsmen and play the game to win.

But Indian fans, despair not, India is not playing an away series after this until 2014; that can only mean one thing: test team number 1 spot guaranteed.

gung-ho
on January 4, 2012, 21:09 GMT

@baskar_guha - you are spot on with your observation about Ashwin -- I was thinkig the same thing watching him bowl last night.

baskar_guha
on January 4, 2012, 20:49 GMT

Ashwin's remarks confirm that he is not a test player. He continues to think in the one-day mold of containment. You cant restrict a side to less than 3 rpo unles you bowl maiden overs. You cant bowl maiden overs with a fielder at deep point for "protection." We need to look elsewhere for a test-class off spinner -- Ashwin is not the answer.

Baundele
on January 4, 2012, 20:42 GMT

If this continues, India may be on the verge of losing their test status after Zaheer's retirement.

on January 4, 2012, 20:40 GMT

i cant see any comments from bangladeshis and pakistanis because they dont like to interfere in other teams match discussion..but on the other hand when pakistan was playing in bangladesh 1 out of 2 comments were from indian suporters they were baching pakistan team....now what happened to your team?????

i know cricinfo is not going to post this ...but if u feel freedom of speech is everyones right then please publish .......

SirViv1973
on January 4, 2012, 20:39 GMT

It's actually quite amusing to see so many Indian fans on here demanding Dhoni be replaced as Capt and many also saying he should be dropped from the test side altogether. No one was on here suggesting anything like this before the series I think you guys are looking for a scapegoat. Personally I do think his Captaincy is way too defensive and hes probably not a natural leader particularly in tests but Ind's problems go much deeper than that. The process of change among the batsman has been 2 slow one of the middle 3 should have gone a yr ago and another should b bowing out by the end of the series, why are Ind not producing fast bowlers ?you need quality seamers to win tests series outside of Asia, the IPl is doing no favors either bowlers like Yadav & Aron shld be skipping the ipl in favour of a stint in Eng. Ind also need to look at it's scheduling of series 2gether with the preparation, you shld probably stick with Fletcher & let him do things his way, he did pretty well with Eng.

on January 4, 2012, 20:35 GMT

Personaly as a kiwi, I always want Australia to lose but they are not going in this test. There are still 3 whole days left. I'd love to see Clarke bat all day and get 401 and Australia get over 800 before they declare. I never understand why captains declare so early in these one sided tests. Why not go for the great records and get your names and your teams name in Wisden for the next 100 or 200 years ? But I reckon they will get to 550-600 and then declare and still win by an innings and that will be disappointing. Of course this aussie team may not be good enough to score 800 runs but it would be an awesome days cricket if they tried. Certainly with Hussey and Clarke still there and some batting to come it shouldn't be impossible.

on January 4, 2012, 20:27 GMT

Indian team is a bunch of glorified losers. They can't win a test series outside indian conditions that is the truth. Australia.... they doesnt have the same team but they still know what they are doing, they can win at home or outside. England have the best test side, Pakistan is much superior than India as they know how to maintain pressure.

Nampally
on January 4, 2012, 20:26 GMT

The deficiencies in the present Indian XI are severely exposed both in batting & bowling. Rohit Sharma was dropped & Gambhir kept in the XI - Why? Mukund needs to replace Gambhir at the opening spot. Laxman needs to be replaced with Rohit. India needs to reinforce with all rounder in the XI. Pathan & Jadeja are both good. So fly in Mukund, Pathan/Jadeja/Dinda and send Gambhir & Mithun or Vinay back or play with extra squad. It is clear the present squad needs boosting. Mukund has scored consistently in Ranji & in semi Finals scored another 90. He brings confidence to the plate which Gambhir cannot. India cannot be banking on VVS getting into form. Rohit is playing very well and is keen to play. This will improve both batting & fielding. Having Pathan & Jadeja will provide strength in both batting & bowling. Clearly this team is not performing & will not without a major shake up. It is amazing that in a squad of 17 there is no designated all rounder-What were the Selectors thinking?

on January 4, 2012, 20:15 GMT

Next record for Sachin is to play 200 tests and I hear next 2 years India plays a lot @home. Coming back to this test. Aussies will look to put up 100 in each of the first two session. Put Inida to bat with a lead of 500. Get India out in 4 sessions and enjoy additional day of rest before the 3rd test. This is called clinical execution. "When Aussies taste blood then they go for the kill all the way." The BCCI administrators know that Come IPL everything will be forgotten. Indian fans have have a very short memory. and tend to forgive.

on January 4, 2012, 20:12 GMT

It will take a very strong 2nd innings from India and Zaheer Khan to take a bag full of wickets as again the Indian bowling looks a bit toothless away from Indian conditions. I Think it maybe time fo Dohni to give up the captaincy or wicket keeping duties as doing both of them is taking its toll on his batting. Ashwin bowls well but does off the variation of Ohja as I think Ohja would have got more wickets in the first innings. Left armers seem to pose more threat to batsmen than off break bowlers. However,Ashwin can bat so I can understand why Ashwin played. I dont think Kohli is ready to test cricket and should be replaced by Rohit Sharma in the next test.Kohli's time as part of the long term india batting line up will come but I dont think the time is now. Gambhir is really struggling and has shown playing IPL and alot of ODI's that its affected his rythm and form.

mmond4
on January 4, 2012, 20:05 GMT

@sam789, follow the money : the financial incentives to Boards from hosting a series with India is probably the only thing (except perhaps the Ashes) that's sustaining Test cricket right now. Not saying this is a good thing, but it's just a simple fact. The only thing that will change this and reduce BCCI influence in general, is if other Boards (e.g. WI, SL, NZ, Bang) can rise out of bankruptcy and find ways to popularize/monetize cricket locally.

Nampally
on January 4, 2012, 20:00 GMT

@Rudolf Pinochet: You may be right in predicting the demise of both Dhoni & Fletcher. Since Kirsten left as the Indian coach,India has taken a nose dive. They were white washed in England and now their performance is just as bad. I am sure it will NOT end up as another 4-0. But from where things stand after Day 2 of SCG test, I am a very disappointed Indian fan. Such a lack lustre performance is unbelievable.Aussie bowling is steady without being outstanding. Yet the Indian fell like nine pins.Aussie batting is OK but not so good as to give just ONE wkt. in a whole day for over 320 runs!. India should have claimed at least 5 wkts. on the day. India has good seamers with both Yadev & Ishant in 140KPH range + ZAK - all capable of taking wkts. They 4 batsmen with over 8000 runs in the Test Cricket yet they fail against an inexperienced attack. It is the mental attitude which is v.Low. Fletcher needs to step up off field & Dhoni On field.Try Dhoni #1 & Gambhir #7 in the second innings!

Precioustar84
on January 4, 2012, 20:00 GMT

Firstly, congrats to Aussies and all their fans from a Team India fan!! Even though im hurt and sad about Team India's performance, I have to admit I am happy that Dhoni's lack of captaincy skills has been exposed in this match and also during Eng tour. How many times have I wondered why he gets away with this just because he is named the captain of our team and has great successes in ODIs. He is just not suitable for tests!! Maybe now I can be hopeful that the selectors will look for change in captaincy for TESTs and let the "lucky ODI captain" go. Times like this I miss Gangulys agression. Dhoni lacks ATTACKING skills by going DEFENSIVE. Said it in first test and I see no change still. Will he ever accept HIS mistake and work on fixing it or will he still hold on to his ego?? Cricinfo please publish

on January 4, 2012, 19:55 GMT

It is time to look at the mirror. The group of Indian fans who always sought to remove Bangladesh test status should now ask themselves why not remove India's test status to play anywhere in the world except home. It may turn out good for them and they will regain #1 position.

Number_5
on January 4, 2012, 19:46 GMT

From an Aussie perspective, if it gives Indian fans any heart, your team has the talent, its the execution that is letting you down. Preparing for this tour with a ODI tournament against the windies is hardly good preparation either, i know its all about money these days, but a couple of weeks lead up games in Oz wouldnt have hurt. The bowlers dont seem interested and are way off their best, Zaheer doesnt look fit but the two young lads look great, just not able to apply enough pressure for long enough to reap rewards so far..SRT has shown good application can get you runs, maybe some of the other batsman need to do the same. If you cant get through todays play, 4-0 is a real prospect.

SirViv1973
on January 4, 2012, 19:43 GMT

@Marcio, I'm an Eng fan but you have to get real, there is nothing interesting about when the Aussie's decide to declare. They can do whatever they want in this game. Stop dreaming of Chennai 2001, it ain't gonna be repeated in this one and India score 550 away from home in quick time! what pills have you been taking ?

on January 4, 2012, 19:37 GMT

Sourav Ganguly....your leadership skills are severely missed here. Indians are back into their subdued mentality. Dada should lecture dhoni and others on being positive on field.

haq33
on January 4, 2012, 19:28 GMT

Dhoni should never have cut his hair short.

samudralakiku
on January 4, 2012, 19:26 GMT

4-0 white wash is looming. BCCI is still blind and does not look into the matters as long as their pockets are full. They keep paying insane amounts of money to the players that are not goog enough to be street cricketers. This is the worst feeling of being an Indian supporter.

SirViv1973
on January 4, 2012, 19:25 GMT

Well unless the rain comes to india's aid it looks like 6 away test defeats on the bounce! and more than likley 3 out of 4 by an inns. Seems like quite a few Indian fans on here calling for dhoni to be replaced as captain, not sure who by though Gambhir looked like he would be the next captain but unless he does something special in the 2nd inns he will be dropped. I would say to India fans though, look on the bright side you have had the 3 toughest tours poss in SAF, Eng and Aus in the past 12 mths so things will only get better!

munibkhan
on January 4, 2012, 19:14 GMT

@jigsaw1818:
1. Sadly, you still refuse to accept that England are infact no.1!
2. You're too critical of Sachin: I think he does play for the love and not the money!

SanjivAwesome
on January 4, 2012, 18:54 GMT

Despite the emotive posts from fellow fans, I think we are witnessing a special Australian team in the making here, possibly comparable to the great Aus teams of the 80s. The cricket quality that they are producing is amazing and sets a high benchmark for all cricketers the world over. So let us savour their success and rejoice in this game called cricket. As for my team India, if they lose 4-0 then we will cross that bridge when it happens. In the mean time, I and my friends continue to support our beleagured team.

Cpt.Meanster
on January 4, 2012, 18:49 GMT

Any INDIAN worth his or her salt will STOP supporting this BCCI team NOW !!! this is NOT the team representing our great country. They play under the banner of the BCCI. This team is against the UDRS which could have helped them numerous times in this series. This team doesn't pick YOUNG players who are eager to play for India. This team has an OLD SCHOOL mentality by continuing to persist with 3 OLDIES in Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman. This team has a USELESS coach in Duncan Fletcher who brings OLD ideas to the table and it's CLEAR he's not liked by the players. The body language is very obvious and you don't need a degree in rocket science to see it through. Lastly, this team DOES NOT care about national pride and hard work. It was PAINFUL for an Indian fan to watch these guys strut around the SCG without purpose. Throw out Dhoni as captain along with the 3 stooges and Fletcher so that India can start winning some test matches.

marcash
on January 4, 2012, 18:48 GMT

Bcci called emgecy meeting to decide, indian will only play in india only.
and ICC have no choice but to accept whatever BCCI says.
this step is taking in view, if india play overseas, soon we they will be competing with zambabwe for their test and ODi ranking...

on January 4, 2012, 18:46 GMT

@Marcio, You are supposing India will bowl out Australia at 600 runs in 1st innings and in 2nd innings they can do so in under 150 runs. I think the match is being played in Sydney against Australia. Not against West Indies in Mumbai???????

on January 4, 2012, 18:44 GMT

if Australia declare before lunch, i think game will be over by tomorrow.

Valavan
on January 4, 2012, 18:36 GMT

@FullBloodedWallop, india scoring 700 in India itself is not common, comon dream have no boundaries, you can dream even India scoring 6 runs an over, but the bitter reality is if india plays sensibly they can draw, maximum they cant score at 4 an over so then also just 100 runs target and ashwin for 6 wickets, what to say, can just laugh, its hilarious, he is just another mendis, cricinfo please publish

KiranShiva
on January 4, 2012, 18:34 GMT

Definitely this Indian team looking like the one before DADA's captaincy era. I agree DADA is not a technically strong bat to lead from front. But his never give it up attitude is definitely missing in Dhoni. Ganguly role didnt get filled till now both as Captain and Player.

on January 4, 2012, 18:24 GMT

4-0 in England and now almost it seems like the way the Indians are batting, bowling and fielding 4-0 is a possiblity. Is Fletcher and Dhoni on their way out?

Texmex
on January 4, 2012, 18:19 GMT

In England our bowlers were too slow. Here 2 bowlers are consistently above 140 and Zaheer's class is well known. Yet the same bowling performance as in England. Why? Is it the captain or something else?

jigsaw1818
on January 4, 2012, 18:13 GMT

We Indians have a highly overrated cricket team. There's only one team in the world and as an Indian i admit it is Australia. They play like professionals especially even fielding on the fifth day. We do not have clear cut match winners. All our players are marketed gurus including Sachin. Sachin is a prime example who has just been lucky for having a long career and building his records. I don't know how we achieved the number one status. We need players like K. Sangakara in Sri Lankan team or Kallis in South Africa team who play for their country from the bottom of their heart and not playing for the money/media stature

TRAM
on January 4, 2012, 18:09 GMT

@tick, You asked what has happened to Dhoni and his old aggression. The question can be asked of most other players. (best examples being Yuvi, Gambhir, YPathan, Harbajan, ...). I think the answer lies in their monetary achievements. Initially every one is motivated, works hard and are aggressive to achieve the goal (goal=matchwins+fame+money+power for some). Once the player got them (esp $$$), he no longer has any goal and all he does is to do the minimal to maintain the status-quo. IMO, Remove the millionaire players from the Ind Test team and see how the remaining perform. This is same as saying "remove all the IPL icon & high stakes players" from the Test team. I think those star players would be happy to quit Test. Today, they play Test because Board dictates so. (except God layers like SRT who can choose "rest" whenever). By dropping those players from Test team, India test team would perform better. Win-win proposal.

Shan156
on January 4, 2012, 18:04 GMT

You have to be prepared to suffer a few defeats if you want to win more. That is part of an attacking mindset and that is what Australia under Clarke have done over the last year. It is clear India are looking for a draw immediately after they failed in the first dig and the opposition started forming a partnership. They threw in the towel too early. This is the same mindset that has plagued the Indian team selection as well. They selected stars long past their sell-by date to ensure they don't lose the series even if they don't win. They believed Laxman has this miraculous ability to regain his form against Australia even though he should have been let go a year back. Inject new blood; they might lose a few tests but eventually they will start winning. Some Indian fan mentioned y'day that at least India are not getting bowled out for 47 like Oz but Oz have won more than India this year. Dhoni is the most defensive captain I have seen and it is evident in his field settings.

Major-Maxx
on January 4, 2012, 18:03 GMT

Accepet it fellas we r good at home only....soo we should play in India only.....or may be only ODIs with lighter teams ..i think we good team for the teams who r below the 5th ranks in ICC rank...
we talk a lot about Pakistan team ...what is our team doing....?
let it b IPL then see who they play.

mysecretme
on January 4, 2012, 18:00 GMT

Indian problems in this series
1. Not playing full and good length well. All top batsmen got out to them. They should practice a lot with the ball up and leave all the short balls without exception. They will loose otherwise.
Solutions
1. Ditch Gambhir and send Dravid up in 2nd innings. Let Gambhir regain confidence in the middle order, in which case, you can actually give him another chance. If he fails again, you know who to drop.
3. Send Kohli 1 down and ask him to do what Pujara did. Get a big score to resurrect his career. Otherwise, Rohit gets in.
4. Ask sachin to stop worrying about others and play his own game for a century. If Clarke and Ponting, who before this series couldn't score a run for their life can play on this pitch, even the Kiwi Martin can make a 50 here. There are no demons in there.
5. Send MSD before Laxman and Gambhir in that order. If everything fails, Gambhir and Laxman, the "savers" can play out of their skin or loose their places.

ShashidharHundi
on January 4, 2012, 17:57 GMT

It is the same old story that we have been reading since India started playing cricket. We have no backbone to display good batting against Australia, England & SA. There may be few occassions when India has played well otherwise more or less it is the same story. No point in jumping with Joy and say we have the top 2 all time run scoreres in the history of game. What is the point of such record when we can't put decent scores on the board. Though I am big fan of Rahul, Sachin & VVS, I think it is time for them to make way for youngsters. With youngsters coming in, it can't get worst than this. It will be a shame if Gambhir plays in the 3rd test. Please call Mukund OR Wasim Jaffer OR Akash Chopra to post some respectable score before we expose middle order. That can make huge difference. Replace Kohli with Rohit (Again not sure whether he can score more than 10 - 20 runs). This match may not see 5th day and again Aussies will smas India at Perth and it will be draw at adelade.

Punjin
on January 4, 2012, 17:55 GMT

Mr. Monga, you stated- "They have five fielders who aren't particularly agile' make that 7 or 8 add Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag. Here's what rest of us saw- Aussie plays a shot- single fielder runs to field or close in raises hand to sweeper out to run. Indian plays a shot there are two fileders running. Similar shots Indians take 1 run to Aussie 2 or 3. More bundaries scored by Aussies. Indian's are not good fielders, they do not scarifice body, dive barring Kohli and Dhoni. Where as Aussies everyone does. If India has to perform better overseas thay need to work on fielding and bowling. Bring in youngsters who will do better fielding and put pressure on Aussie batsman to score. make them work hard and in return you will get wickets. Time to gracefully retire oldies- no disrespect intended. India is going to lose anyway, why not give youth a chance. Save Dhoni/Sehwag for T20/1day, Tendulkar for tests/1 day. DEFENCE IS BEST OFFENCE.

StatisticsRocks
on January 4, 2012, 17:51 GMT

First of all kudos to the Auusie team for showing us how to bat on a which seems to be a very good batting wicket. This will be the biggest innings defeat ever. This is embarassment of the highest order. 11 innings and we crossed 300 only once. By the end of this series we might be 8-0 in test matches and that is not acceptable. AT MCG at least our bowlers did very well to keep our head high, but now due to conservative captionism by MSD we are in a mess. 38/3 to 400+ for 4. Any way this team is losing why not go down dighting or at least showing the will to win. This is where the experienced players should come in and raise the mood in the dressing room and not just chase records. Time to rebuild by letting go Dravid,SRT,LAX, Gambhir. Bring in Rohit as he might be our future. He is just getting old sitting on the bench. This guy has been in form and he showed in warm up games as well. Kohli should only play One days as he doesnot know where his off stump is. What a Mess...

Alexk400
on January 4, 2012, 17:44 GMT

BCCI has to make a choice. Fire Duncan Fletcher or Fire oldies. Can't have both. It seems to me Duncan Fletcher wants to make his own team like Greg chappell wants to do. Greg chappell was loud , Duncan is silently working on to get rid of oldies. Make a quick decision. Do not prolong and give a fans nightmarish time. I think time to dump dhoni as test captain , he is not good wicket keeper and also not a test batsman. Make a quick and final decision. Thats it. Here comes 4-0. 8-0 in verseas m why no head rolls? Only in india. It is pathetic.

phoenixsteve
on January 4, 2012, 17:41 GMT

As most of the knowledgable cricket fans have predicted India are being soundly thrashed in yet another test match. It's a shame the BCCI doesn't listen to the many many crirics of Indian selection policy? There MUST be some young talent somewhere in India? Surely..... Maybe if the 4-0 whitewash predictions are accurate a new regime will take charge of Indian cricket? Hope so, coz this Indian test team is pathetic! More alarmingly, we are hearing all the same tired irrelevent excuses from the Indian fans.... get real people... Indian test cricket is dead and should be buried along with the cricket board! RIP... India.

Alexk400
on January 4, 2012, 17:41 GMT

Some people always think i am always critical of india and even crcinfo writes don't post my comment because i am too negative or to critical of their opinion. Fact is opposite. I like heroes. Real heroes. The people who fights tooth and nail. Dravid used to be that character. It seems like he also lost his mojo in sachin's 100th 100. Why indians and india want sachin 100th 100 when india is losing badly ? It does not make sense to me at all. There is a reason india never had war heroes. TPTB never likes heroes who can fight. We never recognize athletic gold medalists. We never give importance to fighters. I would be stand in line clapping and in awe if sachin won many games on his own. he never did. He is basically run collector when things are easier. Indians refuse to fight , once gavaskar scored 36 runs whole 60 over game. Giving up is indian motto. when odds are against you champion rises. Can indian fight? I highty doubt current team have the mind/stamina to do it.

Nishat_India
on January 4, 2012, 17:38 GMT

It was such a nice batting wicket after first session. All india had to do was see out the first couple of hours. Credit must also be given to consistent fast, line and length bowling from Australians. Sehwag "This is the way he bats" needs to adapt to moving ball or else he should be dropped. It was embarrassing to see him missing, edging so many balls.

ListenToMe
on January 4, 2012, 17:36 GMT

@amjadmayo, I do not know why you have inlcuded Sachin in the list. He is the only person who is playing well. When Sachin plays, you need atleast a 100 from him. For everyone else, a 50 is more than enough. Change this attitude boy!

on January 4, 2012, 17:33 GMT

yes not great batting by india but more than batting india lost 1st test one and only because of msd..he let ponting n hussey come back inform by deciding to allow them easy singles..even this match he made biggest mistake at toss..if go by stats since last 5 years team batting 1st at sydney got out below 250 and team batting 2 nd get best conditions to bat...even pak troubled aussies when aussies got out at 13 then pak replied with 333 ..that shows msd's captain days as test captain are over....because of ipl and t20 he now thinks about saving 4's only..

san789
on January 4, 2012, 17:33 GMT

Can someone please tell me why India is still playing test cricket?? Why cant they concentrate only on IPL and ODIs which are played only in India???????

Mohammad_Imran
on January 4, 2012, 17:33 GMT

Bottom line - Batsmen will win you ODIs, but bowlers win you Test matches! You need to have wicket taking bowlers which will get you 20 wickets in the test (seems like India have one in Zak)... that's why England, Australia, South Africa & Pakistan have been successful in Tests recently because of their overall bowling depth.

niraj13
on January 4, 2012, 17:30 GMT

This is a very thoughtful article by Mr. Monga. For once, he has written something that does not invlove praising Dravid. India's body language and their behaviour summed it all. Ponting and Clarke deserve due credit for their heroics, but India took the field with a very poor approach. Dhoni is acclaimed as one of the greatest captains India has ever had, but his field settings and tactics were ridiculous. Fielders were placed at useless positions. They were waiting for the batsmen to make mistakes and lose their wicket instead of earning a wicket by bowling in good areas and building pressure by sharpness on the field. India still have the capability to save this match, but that fire within has to be rekindled. For starters, they should go in tomorrow with as positive as they can be and keep the intensity at the highest level. Talent and skill is one thing, but if you don't have the right attitude and approach, you are always going to lose. Lets go India, show some heart out there!

on January 4, 2012, 17:20 GMT

No preparation = No execution. The senior players have nothing at stake. Opposition batsman are converting 2 runs to 3 and converting a three to a four run. This is pathetic fielding. You have to raise the level of preparation. for Dhoni to setup attacking field you need good fielders who can throw themselves. what does it take for Bowlers to bowl in the corridor. and keep basic line and length and wait for batsman to make mistake. that was Australia is doing this is not rocket science.

akbarbirbal007
on January 4, 2012, 17:20 GMT

They are not waiting for declaration they are waiting for defeat...as soon as they(aussies) declare it will be the question of how soon the match will get over tomorrow itself or on the fourth day..unless and untill there is any restrain shown by dravid and laxman...which is very unlikely as the former has looked clueless the later had been kept guessing even Ashwin had spent more time than laxman in all the innings of the series so far..could have been better had we gone for a bowler..ohja in place of him.

prsubbu
on January 4, 2012, 17:09 GMT

Well, Sure... obviously we have to wait for declaration. And after that, can our great grandfather trio (RD+SRT+VVS) together, in both innings combined, score more than what Clarke alone scored in this one innings? I would not bet a single penny on it. Well, we have to give a little consideration for the ages of our grandfather trio. As one ages, long sight (Hypermetropia) sets in and our trio would probably need a bi-focal spectacles to locate and identify "something RED" coming towards them at 140+ KMPH from their grandson generation.... LOL

on January 4, 2012, 17:08 GMT

Why not just accept that Indian Batsman are not good overseas. Bowling was never their strength ? How many Matches India play at home vs overseas? World's best batting order is very ordinary outside India !! all credit to the pitches in India which doesn't do any good to the bowlers and help the batsman.

longlivewoodoo
on January 4, 2012, 17:08 GMT

One thing i will confess that it's not an easy task to be an indian team fan !

kevivnajar
on January 4, 2012, 17:06 GMT

My views as an indian cricket fan for 20 + years :

1) Gambir is a 'fit for nothing' in test cricket. Bring in 21 year old promising Abhinav Mukund.

2) DLT must retire. (Dravid, Laxman, Tendulkar). Enough of their achievements and contributions. Dravid is dropping lot of catches in a position where he has a record. Batting quality has come down too. Laxman is not active or hungry for runs any more. Sachin doesn't perform well whenever required, especially in 2nd innings.

3) Replacements COULD be Rohit sharma, C.Pujara, Manoj Tiwary or any other promising domestic player below 25 yrs.

4) Next 2 years, India only plays domestic tests. The new team will get a good exposure and will be ready for the next big tour. Even if the did not begin like DLT, they will atleast avoid 191 all out.

5) Select atleast one stadium in India and make it a seaming track like Australian pitches. Take special care of that one stadium and let our seamers play domestic match there and learn.

weindians
on January 4, 2012, 17:06 GMT

India have been very poor especially in Tests since Fletcher took over.... If Role of coaches in modern cricket is that deep, we have to think that way...

objective_cricfan
on January 4, 2012, 16:53 GMT

Dhoni is without doubt one of the most gifted and naturally talented players we have seen but it is time to face that Dhoni is not the great captain he is made out to be. A victory in the world cup alone cannot be the criteria of a great captain. Kapil Dev also won the world cup but he was never considered a great captain. Dhoni has been extremely successful in the shorter versions including IPL but victory there is more dependent on individual brilliant performances on the day rather than shrewd reading of the game and cricketing sense. His test record also looks impressive but check out that most of these victories was in favorable conditions and often against teams not particularly strong. When the going has got tough he has failed to take charge and inspire the team as was obvious in England and now down under. Kapil was dropped as captain just after World Cup beacuse of a home series loss to a super strong West Indies. yet the 4-0 thrashing in England has gone unnoticed!

Universalthinker
on January 4, 2012, 16:51 GMT

Comeon guy Laxman is the person who played many crucial innings recent past, there is no test team without Sachin, Dravid and Laxman.
Dhoni is best suited to T20 and ODI captain...He is continuing same field placments even in test. Can you imagine a test match without slip fielders. Thats what great Dhoni did today when Yadav was bowling

on January 4, 2012, 16:48 GMT

the image used in the above article is priceless!!!!!!! rofl

bingorighton
on January 4, 2012, 16:48 GMT

@1_234 - stats dont tell story often, even zim is overseas, so is bangladesh, sl etc.
you need to check overseas record against AUS-SA-ENG. and you will get the whole picture. somehow watching the first 2 tests , the same old feeling of "one man team - sachin" is coming to mind. opponents still would be feeling "take sachin out and we have the match" , what a pity even sachin isnt rescuing us. time for a double century sachin. he is looking in very good touch , just feel he is trying too many shots. he should just play the way he was when he scored 241* on this ground . i remember he avoided all shots and waited for bowlers to err on leg everytime .

bMike
on January 4, 2012, 16:48 GMT

I like this part of the article "It happened against South Africa in Nagpur, against New Zealand in Napier, against Sri Lanka in Galle, against South Africa in Centurion and against England in all four Tests". In other words "home hero away zero"
I believe that almost all world cup quarter finalists (Sri Lanka, Pakistan , New Zealand, South Africa, Australia, England) could have easily beat world cup winning Indian team at anywhere outside India on the same day that they won the world cup

bingorighton
on January 4, 2012, 16:42 GMT

one thing that we need to remind ourselves of...there is no demon in the pitch. if australia is going to score 600+, we surely can score them. for once the indian batting order needs to click now. looks great batting order on paper, but in reality its the same old story. we need to consider sending dravid to open. or do something out of regular and send ashwin to open. gambhir problem isnt going to be solved in a day or two.
better to find a solution around it. send him at no3 or even at no6. who knows it might solve our problem of proper no6 batsman that we are looking for sometime now since ganguly retired.

Amar_bw
on January 4, 2012, 16:37 GMT

It is obvious, India will be losing all the Test matches in this series, just like in England. But then, who cares? They just won the ODI world cup, they played IPL matches and will continue to play IPLs. Almost every player in the team is a millionaire. So, how does the Test match win is going to matter to anyone? It's only us, the fans, who cares about Test matches.

anilkp
on January 4, 2012, 16:27 GMT

Guys, you cannot blame MSD. He seems unimaginative and directionless; but that is natural when a captain is shocked to see his famed legends fold for 190, and then his frontline bowlers go for 5 an over all day. He cannot bowl to take 7 wickets, he cannot prevent Dravid from dropping catches, he cannot, field for the other 5 fielders. Keep yourself in his position and then talk. It is the problem with the famed culprits, simple. This same bowlers would have looked somewhat different if the Ist innings score was, say, 400.

Yazdegerd
on January 4, 2012, 16:26 GMT

Indian team is now just like a kid who stand close to a Ice cream vendor waiting to get a free one.

Aspraso
on January 4, 2012, 16:21 GMT

Test One we would not bowl out the tailenders, Test Two we could not bowl out the middle-order; hopefully by Test Four we will learn to bowl out all 10 of them :)

BravoBravo
on January 4, 2012, 16:19 GMT

The title of this article should be "India wait for a defeat, again". After reading Mr. Monga's article and another recent article by M. Ramakrishnan (about IND mighty Batting line stats in Sydney), I realized that not only the IND fans but these pro-IND authors, are trying to sell a waste product as an staple. I am talking about IND batting line up, which persistently failing to a shameless level, and the media and fans are putting the blame on their own bowlers explicitly. What a pity and miserable state of mind of so called IND cricket experts? No wonder IND still retains the bottom of the pool spot (#7) when it comes to WIN to LOSS ratio in TEST CRICKET. I think AUS will wait for Clarke TRIPLE and/or Hussey Century before they declare. After that AUS will let loose Shewag (the big mouth) and Tendul (the little master/ God) on the Trio of Pattinson, Hilfy and Siddle to let them make 500+ and 100+ to respectively to fill the void in their agonising careers.

Nev_19
on January 4, 2012, 16:18 GMT

Among the older players, Sachin & Zaheer are the exception (who've displayed skill & intent); spare them, but weed out the dead wood (G Gambhir, R Dravid, and VVS Laxman). Bring in new blood like Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, etc. Also, we need to search for a couple of good spinners w/variation & control. Most important, BCCI needs to understand that we need Test specialists, not people crossing over from T20.

Chris_P
on January 4, 2012, 16:18 GMT

This series appears to be one where a team on the decline is meeting a team on the rise. Back to back tests always tests pace bowlers. To be brutally honest, the Indian pace attack has been a huge disappointment after their promise of the first test. The batting has been failing the questions being asked of it by the Aussie pace attack. Time has never waited for anybody, and while some of these fading stars may make the odd impact, their consistency enjoyed in their youth is making way for longer runs of less than succesful inputs.

on January 4, 2012, 16:18 GMT

In these defeats, one thing is clear. We, in India, were busy busking in the glories (false though) of winning matches at home against weaker test sides and rising towards the No.1 position, we forgot that other teams are catching up once again. Huge amount of money in IPL has also played it's part in shaping the mindset of our younger players, though shorter version of the games do have its good impact on the test matches, but in general too much of these soap opera games are costing our younger generations. These players, though are blessed with huge talents, are mentally incapable of conquering oppositions, and results in their abject capitulations. So my plea to BCCI is to concentrate on restructuring our team around genuine fast bowlers on hard, bouncy, bowler friendly pitches. The days when our strategy of just try and win a draw at home by introducing docile pitches to negate oppositions bowling are over. Sustaining cricket in India will largely depend on how we do abroad.

vineetkarthi
on January 4, 2012, 16:18 GMT

The two best captains India had are Kapil Dev for sheer inspiration and Ganguly for fighting spirit. Dhoni has been plain lucky and it seems his luck has already run out. "if it aint broke dont fix it" they say but with Indian Selectors it seems they dont fix it even when it is broken and crushed to pieces... Let us hope Mohinder Amarnath will show some sense and make some brave and no longer drastic decisions.

Nev_19
on January 4, 2012, 16:15 GMT

Among the older players, Sachin & Zaheer are the exception (who've displayed skill & intent); spare them, and weed out the dead wood (G Gambhir, R Dravid, and VVS Laxman). Bring in new blood like Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, etc. Also, we need to saerch for a couple of good spinners w/variation & control. Importantly, BCCI needs to understand that we need Test specialists, not people crossing over from T20.

NairUSA
on January 4, 2012, 16:08 GMT

Interesting to see Team India is back on track with their bowling form....back to 2011 Englad tour level! Some consistency there.

It seems as if India's bowling plan is simple - try to get wickets when the batsmen commits error while attacking. If they dont attack, lay low and see if they want to gift wrap their wickets. This normally happens after the opposition piles up 500 plus runs.

The bowling team have to get an aggressive mindset to induce batsmen to make mistakes. Who can provide that mindset?

Vpx23
on January 4, 2012, 16:03 GMT

SEE LET A YOUNG TEAM PLAY AGAINST AT YOUNG TEAM..AT LEAST THE RAW BLOOD WILL TAKE OVER THE DRIVE IN CASES OF SLUMPS. OPTIMISM WILL BE MUCH MORE HIGHER THAN IN THESE CASES OF EXCESS BAGGAGE CARRIED BY THE WEARY SENIORS....

on January 4, 2012, 16:02 GMT

Guys, its just the second day and I don't see any reason why you guys jump to conclusions. May be their shoulders are down, may be they are waiting for a declaration, but I still have a feeling that Indian batsman will come good in the second innings. I am counting on Gambir, Dravid, Sachin, Laximan, Virat and Dhoni. Even if Aus declare tomorrow. India will not be bowled out again until the end of 4th day or on the 5th.

anilkp
on January 4, 2012, 15:58 GMT

@1_234 : I do nt understand why you do not understand why people are harsh on India. For India-defenders: The pitch is nothing; a pitch cannot consume 13 wickets until afternoon and suddenly say, "enough food, mate, my tummy aches. I am gonna sleep now", and it sleeps, and two batters reach near50s each before trudging off. You say now if this is possible to happen. Do not blame the pitch when your batters are hapless. Your famed legends are as unmanly as are the Aussie top three, who are all new comers. That is simple. There is no way this indian lineup is going to spend more than a day at the crease. England repeats, folks; brace yourself for that. Shame!

Naresh28
on January 4, 2012, 15:48 GMT

@INDIAN FANS - before the series started you guys were all predicting
4-0 to India. This is totally ridiculous. I would ask all of you to be rational.
You lose some and you win some whether you a great team or not. I am an
indian fan too - I like reading some comments from likes of dravid_gravitas, Nampally and ssenthil - who are rational. India need one good fast bowler in the team. All teams do well against India when the pitch is dead where we wilt with our slower bowlers.Someone like ATUL SHARMA. I was disappointed for two reasons one - no ROHIT in the lineup and two Dhoni should have bowled
first - you use the early life of wicket.

on January 4, 2012, 15:36 GMT

India are worse than Zimbabwe while playing abroad :(

ElvisKing
on January 4, 2012, 15:33 GMT

The declaration is not going to come till after Tea as you can see the Austaralians, like England , will try to take as big as a lead and jsut choke the thought process of the Team that there is no way they are going to get that score and succumb. Its all happened in England and its repeating again in Australia. Dhoni is not got viosnoary when it comes to Test Cricket and specially if the team has not scored big in the first innings. What Ashwin is talking about is actually what the Team must have discussed overnight and decided to take the wrong path of not attacking the opposition and take a defensive approach. Every one knows the best defense is the offense, you talk to kids in school they will tell you that these days. As a bowler or a captain its always better to try and get the wickets but you cannot get them defensively. It seems Dhoni has not been paying attention to the media talking about pitch being live on first day and as such he is going to rue his decision to bat first.

on January 4, 2012, 15:26 GMT

I like the article, Once India was No.1

Full-Blooded-Wallop
on January 4, 2012, 15:16 GMT

Tomorrow Aussies will do the glaring mistake of declaring with a lead of 500.Then India will bat for 150 overs 777/5 declared. Sehwag- 223, gambhir-129, SRT- 177,Dravid- 67, vvs-71, kohli-50*, dhoni-35*
Aussies crumbling on day 5 on 143.India winning by 134 runs. Ashwin 34/6
I have prayed to hanuman ji that even if it is draw, I will fast on next Tuesday :P
And if we win, I would start getting up at 4am on non-match days also( atleast for a month :P)

on January 4, 2012, 15:15 GMT

"Some teams deal with tough days in the field better than others, India isn't one of those teams". What a bad cliche!!! Which other team in the world will deal better with such a situation, may I ask? The fact remains that India have once again been exposed overseas, and the irony is that these are not even great bowlers. As for our "bowlers", Clarke and Ponting just milked a 1 1/2 man attack (Zaheer and Ishant, when he suddenly remembers he is an international cricketer). We can only hope for a draw and this would have to involve rain, since we have not passed 300 in the last 16 innings abroad. The other thing I pray for is that SRT does NOT make his 100 in a losing cause.

Front-Foot-Lunge
on January 4, 2012, 15:08 GMT

On a lively pitch India's bowlers have today proved just how bad they really are. And Australia are there for the taking by almost any current side in international cricket!

on January 4, 2012, 15:08 GMT

Here is a nightmare prediction, a deeply saddening thought but a grave possibility -Australia declare close to 700, Indians cave in again for under 200, losing by a colossal innings and 300!

linukuruvilla123
on January 4, 2012, 15:05 GMT

Please BCCI...get our team out of australia now... atleast losing the test series by 2-0 would help us remain in the top three test teams than by losing 4-0...and then our next away tour is only in november 2013...long enough time for our home lions to play at home and get back to no.1... and then everyone will again hail dhoni as captain cool...great!!!

USAPakCricFollower
on January 4, 2012, 15:00 GMT

@SujitAstrologer. You've got to give it to the irrational exuberance of the Indian fans. 5 straight losses and 6th on the way, probably by an innings, and you want them to be positive! When was the last time India batted out 2.5 days overseas to save a match? Hmmm I cannot remember. Maybe astrology is not the best predictor here.

Kashi0127
on January 4, 2012, 14:55 GMT

All Australia need to do is win two remaining tests to make it 4-0. This is already in the bag - go for it Australia ... (Once upon a time India Fan - pre Tendulkar days)

PiyushD
on January 4, 2012, 14:54 GMT

when everyone is advicing I thought let me also speak, nothing new but commonsense, its time to sack Fletcher as coach and Dhoni as captain, I guess Ganguly will be a better coach to India, VVS should make way for Rohit in next match and either Parthiv or Ajinkya will server as better openers to Gambhir on current form. In fact not playing Rohit was a bad decision on part of coach and captain from the start of series.

nankis
on January 4, 2012, 14:53 GMT

its better to play an extra bowler and give ourselves a chance to get aussies out quickly. no point in playing extra batsmen (virat) as he cannot do anything special that 6 or 7 other batsmen are not doing. anyways ashwin is a good allrounder and is playing better than him. i dont like to take the credit out off aussie bowlers stating reasons like pitch has eased out. they have shown that with consistent and disciplined line and length even the best batsmen in the world could make themselves look ordinary. dhoni has done well in the past but his captaincy in this series is definitely questionable. attacking pointing and clarke and make them earn for their runs should have been the way rather than giving them easy singles by spreading the field, bowling on their legs and making the spinners to bowl negative lines.

on January 4, 2012, 14:46 GMT

WELL INDIA MUST HAVE GOOD ALL ROUNDER ON FOREIGN TRIPS IF YOU KNOW YOUR BATTING HAS NOT PERFORM WELL, SO YOU HAVE FILL A POSITION OF 5TH BOWLER AS WELL AS 7TH BATSMAN BUT UNFORTUNATELY INDIA HAS NOT PRODUCE GREAT ALL ROUNDER AFTER KAPIL (DEV) WHO CAN BAT IN PRESSURE AND SAVE THE MATCH, IF NOT SAVE THE MATCH ATLEAST HE CAN FLIGHT WITH TAIL. SEE ANJELO MATHEWS, SHUAN POLLOCK, ANDREW FILINTOFF, GREG BLEWETT, SHANE WATSON, MOHAMMAD HAFEEZ.

A BOWLER CUM BATSMAN CAN BE A BETTER SOLUTION INSTEAD OF ADDING ANOTHER BOWLER / BATSMAN.

on January 4, 2012, 14:46 GMT

Sidharth Monga,

You have asked some questions in your article. Here are the reply from an Indian fan.

query 1
---------
this really is the best possible XI they can field right now

You can select any eleven Indian citizen from Indian streets and they cannot perform worse than this. I mean, what is worse than 4-0 scoreline (England) and 2-0 (in 2 tests so far).

Query 2
----------
It is a difficult time to be in the field when your bating has failed, and the opposition can bat freely because of the meagreness of your total.

You must be kidding. "Difficult Time" is a word to describe some mishap or bad event which happens once or twice in your lifetime. I mean generally people learn from bad times and will not repeat the same mistakes. There may have been 1 or 2 surprise series in the past when Indian batsmen have surprised a lot of us. But this abject batting failure is as expected. Words like "Difficult Times" should not be used to describe Indian batting failure.

on January 4, 2012, 14:44 GMT

Instead of making things to happen, Indians are waiting for things to happen. Very defensive approach.

SomeCents
on January 4, 2012, 14:39 GMT

Most of the Indian players are consumed with appearing "cool" rather than doing the grind. Blame the adoring Indian fans. They make these guys into gods. If things don't go well, they just shrug their shoulders and figure, oh well, it's not my day, I'll get them tomorrow...or the next day...or the next. Zaheer, Gambhir, Kohli, Sehwag, Dhoni, almost all the new guys... Too much strut on the field. Notice how workmanlike the aussies are when things are tough. They show GRIT! It's beyond the Indian stars to show GRIT! But...they don't care since they will return home to flat pitches, adoring fans and big IPL and endorsement money!

MSWAMY
on January 4, 2012, 14:37 GMT

Laxman has had a bad series so far while Sachin, Sehwag and Dravid have shown some resolve but the other batsmen Dhoni, Gambhir and Kohli have floundered. God forbid if Laxman, Dravid and Sachin and from the bowlers Zaheer Khan retire in the space of the next 2 years, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe would vie for our rankings and we would publish test match draws against them as victories. It is also possible that the Indian Team may not be invited to performing countries like Pakistan Srilanka, England, Australia, West Indies and South Africa. The A teams in this countries will pound us mercilessly. The best solution is to give up the false notions that we can play test cricket. At present be prepared for a 4-0 drubbing against the Aussies and then organise a series against Bangladesh or Bermuda so that Mr Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar gets his 100th 100. Promise him the Bharat Ratna and a management role in the BCCI and get him to retire. Focus on IPL, advertisements and hanging out at parties

on January 4, 2012, 14:37 GMT

Laxman Dhoni and Gambhir have been regular non-performers. They are not even ashamed of their situation. There are so many weaknesses that one wonders how did India became one.

Shanmughan
on January 4, 2012, 14:36 GMT

I am not in favour of dropping the big three as yet..What India needs is a solid start..If they get that the middle order will automatically click..Dont forget,when India was doing well be it in NZ or SA this same pair of Sehwag and Gambhir were giving a decent start.Atleast one of them would go on to get a meaningfull score.
At the moment Gambhir seems to have hit rock bottom in terms of form and confidence.Even Ishant Sharma may stay longer at the crease because of his defensive technique.The angled bat which used to get Gambhir so much runs is proving to be detrimental..He will need to go back to Ranji trophy and correct his technique.

big_cheese
on January 4, 2012, 14:35 GMT

I wonder if 'blowers from Pakistan' can actually bowl... :-)

Jokes apart, batsmen need to score runs, period. If we can't win in England & Australia, then we don't deserve to be at the top. I can see a couple of guys trying really hard, but that doesn't mean that the others aren't. They just need to go that extra mile - since Aussies are bowling exceptionally well.

Now that the pitch has eased out, and favorable to batting, I wonder how Indians will bat in the second innings - against the menace of accurate fast bowling & pressure of mountainous total.

dsig3
on January 4, 2012, 14:31 GMT

I feel a bit sorry for India because they really got the worst of the conditions. Dhoni made the right call to bat, anything else is possible career suicide just ask Nasser Hussain. The pitch is mighty flat now, our batting lineup has just as many problems as India and we only lost 1 wicket today. India have a good chance to draw the match if a few things go their way like bad weather. At least India can look forward to an absolute golden opportunity to get some batsmen into form. If you cant score runs on this deck in the second innings then god help you. Its a road.

777aditya
on January 4, 2012, 14:30 GMT

this present motu gora coach is of no use - he is too placid - We need a Gavaskar/Shastri as a batting coach, Srinath/Kapil as a fast bowling coach, Kumble as a spin bowling coach, and Robin Singh as a fielding coach - only us Indians can understand ourselves - foreign coaches are no better than Indian coaches

of course, the coach/captain is as good as the team plays

Nampally
on January 4, 2012, 14:30 GMT

Ponting & Clarke showed that there is nothing in the pitch to justify India getting out for 191. Clarke alone scored 250- higher than whole of Indian team!.India team has made a mockery of their country with such dismal batting & bowling in the first 2 days of the Sydney test. Australia have 3 experienced batsmen in Ponting, Clarke & Hussey. Each of them has come up big & tore the Indian bowling to shreds. India has 4 experienced batsmen in Tendulkar, Sehwag, Dravid & Laxmen. Between them they totalled less than 80 runs & made the Aussie bowling look much superior than it is on the same wicket as the Aussies anhilated Indian bowling. It is just the grit, determination and pride in their abilities not to get out cheaply due to rash strokes. Now India is waiting for declaration instead of getting the opposition Out? What sort of mental attitude is this ?Why send such a gutless team! Get Kristan back. Under Fletcher this team has acted & played like Losers in 6 overseas tests in a row.

big_al_81
on January 4, 2012, 14:26 GMT

I think our friend 1_234 is either being ironic or realistic. As he/she correctly shows, India's record is very poor overseas so this shouldnt be any surprise. As the stats also show India's ecord overseas has improved a little in the last 10 years but it is still poor! So perhaps 1_234 means this is all you can expect from India away from the subcontinent against decent teams? Seems slightly harsh! On another note, I'm really confused that someone says Dravid should be dropped and that Laxman is mentioned positively elsewhere. India wouldn't have reached 200 more than once in 8 innings in England without Dravid and Laxman has one of the worst conversion records from 50 to 100 in the history of the game. You won't even save games let alone win them with players like that. How he's regarded as part of a big 3 when dozens of current players are better than him remains a mystery. Are people still dwelling on a couple of far-distant triumphs against Australia?

Nutcutlet
on January 4, 2012, 14:22 GMT

If this test match were a boxing contest, then the referee would have stopped the fight! Did I say fight? Contest? No, that doesn't cut it either. The time is overdue for India to take a long hard look at what it's doing in the test arena. These performances away from home just won't do - they are, in truth, a form of cheating - first they cheated the English public and now they are cheating the Ozzies of their hard-earned at the turnstile. It's about time that they were rumbled. Contrary to some misguided sub-continental thinking, English and Australian - teams and supporters - want a stern contest, a true test of their worth on the test match field. Now, just letting of so much steam is not the full point here. India has a massive population, more than all the other cricketing countires put together x 10, and is by far the richest, as we know and is rammed down our throats! They should be cock of the walk, not the lame self-pitying duck. No more excuses, we've had enough of those!

on January 4, 2012, 14:21 GMT

We are in such a pathetic state right now. The future looks really bleak. We do not have quality replacement for the existing people. The strong middle order suddenly looks fragile and old save for Tendulkar. Do we need to play away tests anymore? We are not playing any tests outside subcontinent for at least 2 years from now, so what's next. These people will be deemed world beaters again. I think BCCI would not plan any tours to Australia, SA or England in the near future to save the blushes.

allblue
on January 4, 2012, 14:15 GMT

We saw this sort of Indian performance in England recently, and the only word to describe their efforts in the field is abject. It's almost as though they have forgotten how to play Test cricket, because today they seemed to be playing the 'boring middle overs' of an ODI all day. Sit back and settle for 4 runs per over, don't apply pressure, don't create intensity and just see what happens. I can't believe that Duncan Fletcher has much say in all this because there's no way he'd put up with it if he did. When the batting side is on top, you set tight fields, get the bowlers to bowl to them and look to create pressure by drying up the runs. The senior players need to keep the spirit high, keep chivvying and look like a team that wants it. None of that happened today, or for long periods in England last year. You need four things to be successful in this harsh arena - talent, leadership, organisation and team spirit. India has the first, but sadly lack the other three.

PTtheAxis
on January 4, 2012, 14:14 GMT

dhoni has to taken out as test captain. have been saying that for long. india always slow to react. how many whitewashes do they need ? the bodylangauge is for all to see.

on January 4, 2012, 14:14 GMT

This will be a very hard hill to climb. Unless we have some sheer magic from Sehwag and Tendulkar. But I am afraid Sehwag will throw his wicket away. Will we finally get a VVS (very very special) innings from Lakshman?

on January 4, 2012, 14:11 GMT

Dhoni may have won T20 and ODI worldcup, but I never considered him even an okay captain. He completely rides on luck. A great captain is a leader who shows his leadership qualities when things are not going right for him. When things are going good, dhoni takes weird decisions and when they pay off people start praising him. However, when things are not going right for him, he seems completely clueless whatsoever. I don't have to quote each and every instance when he just completely gave up. Mind you, I am not bashing Dhoni for any hatred or anything...because I still believe Azharuddin and Ganguly were by far better captain than Dhoni!

netcricketfan4ever
on January 4, 2012, 14:08 GMT

Honestly, this is one of the better things to happen in Indian cricket. I hope India loses the series 4-0 so that everyone faces the reality of the problems India has- a highly overrated aging batting lining up and an insufficient bowling attack. To compound their problems, they have an ultra defensive captain who doesn't belong at the Test level. This tour would have been so much more helpful if it had a pack of young batters. The end result would not have changed (India would have still been crushed) but the experience would have been invaluable. At least, I hope the selectors start doing that when India play at home. As a team, India does not have self-belief and look utterly out of place. Thanks to England and Aus for showing where they truly belong.

on January 4, 2012, 14:05 GMT

still the test is not over so wait..if u remove captaincy from dhoni..whom wil u choose as a captain??

criclover999
on January 4, 2012, 14:03 GMT

Indian team here is on vacation with there family not here to play cricket take inspiration from england side there families were only allowed after they secured ashes ,players are not at all serious about cricket or what us fans thought .

landl47
on January 4, 2012, 14:03 GMT

@Marcio: technically you're right, but do you honestly think this Indian side is capable of scoring 550 in rapid time against the Australian attack? No, nor do I.

Barnesy4444
on January 4, 2012, 13:57 GMT

I have been very disappointed by Dhoni's captaincy. Allowing top batsmen 4-5 easy singles every over leading up to stumps, then having fielders on the boundary first over the next morning doesn't fill your team with confidence.

vallavarayar
on January 4, 2012, 13:53 GMT

Indian stars are stars basically because there are a billion people who think so. Sadly, that doesn't make it true. Not even close.

amjadmayo
on January 4, 2012, 13:45 GMT

@1_234, We lost almost six test match on the throughout overseas,more to come and you present stats.

dharmadasa
on January 4, 2012, 13:41 GMT

Indian team have lost the mental battle and they are defeated for sure. Perhaps this is the attitude of Duncan Fletcher too, after all he also experienced whitewash with England team in 2006/7.

Mann123
on January 4, 2012, 13:39 GMT

There is only one positive that I see in these ruins. Indian selectors would now have valid excuse to phase out Dravid and Laxman at least. Since they play in sub-continent for next 2 years, there are many young players (i can think of 7-8 batsmen) who can bully any visiting teams on those pitches. Anyways if India is loosing badly its just better to loose with youngsters then oldies as there is at least hope for future then.

shrastogi
on January 4, 2012, 13:28 GMT

There is little point in blaming Dhoni or the bowlers. It was a good pitch to bat on and aussie batsmen capitalised. The real problem lies with the form of batsmen. This test match is as good as gone but the Indian team can take second innings as good batting practice. If Indians are 500 down on first innings it would be good if they lose by 10 or lesser wickets rather than by an innings as saving the match looks a tall order. The batting performance in this series so far has reminded of what special role Akash Chopra played in 2003-04. He and Sehwag gave good starts. Gautam Gambhir's form is exposing middle order and it would be laughable if he is made captain with his place in the side in danger. Aussie top order has not clicked also but their middle order has shown solidity. Its high time Indian middle order does that.

Y2SJ
on January 4, 2012, 13:16 GMT

Dhoni needs to be more positive in approach. With the fielding he had set, the Aussies scored easily. If he had set attacking fielding and the bowlers had attacked, they might have given away the same runs, but the approach would have boosted the confidence of the team. Seeing how the team dropped their shoulders, I dont expect them to put a lead in this game. They are just waiting for the series to end.

1_234
on January 4, 2012, 13:09 GMT

I dont understand why people are harsh towards india, look at their record in test matches they played outside Home:

The batting has to click! It does not require 500+ scores for its bowlers to do well. But 350+ is the minimum. That is what even Ravi Shashtri and Ian Chappel said today. You cannot fault bowlers only. 190 is a nothing score. And if Dhoni does not have the confidence to bat first, and becomes defensive with a nothing score to defend, then better be defensive on winning the toss and bowl first. At least your bowlers have the best of conditions! Then if Australia score 500, at least you are batting well into the second day with the demons of the wicket having gone away. Its sad for a fan to write so defensively, but that is the truth. And time that Sachin plays a Laxman like innings. Too many times he has scored a ton and India has lost. 130-140 in a losing cause is not so good. Make a day hundred and rescue India out of this. A draw here will lift the team's moral a lot. Chances look bleak though!

amjadmayo
on January 4, 2012, 13:07 GMT

Another heavy defeat on the cards for sure. I don't know what is the rules and regulation to declare no 1 team in world in past India. We have all time great batsman in this team and we lost again & again with heavy margins. It is time to come BCCI should take necessary action, and replace old faces ASAP (Include Great Schin as well). He is just come for batting records to make 100 centuries nothing else. Poor bowling display as usual. If India have no experience bowlers they should barrow some blowers from Pakistan.

1_234
on January 4, 2012, 13:04 GMT

Perhaps indian team is thinking that it has 7 Batsmen who can win the match whatever they will have to chase. So, let the opposition make as much they can :)

SujitAstrologer
on January 4, 2012, 13:02 GMT

Come on guys, let us be positive for last time before we can condemn. In my view the pitch has eased out and looks good for batting. May be India can bat out for the next 2.5 days and have a draw. I also feel laxman should retire. His feet does not move beacuse he had polio in childhood. Selectors should have a policy of dropping players if they donot perform in full series like England or Australia. Of all the newcomers I have seen, Chetswar Pujara is the best technical player. He is the future along with virat and Rohit. It is pity he is in the injured list.

TRAM
on January 4, 2012, 13:00 GMT

I bet the players who are at the verge of getting dropped (Gambhir/VVS/Kholi) are each going to score 40 or 50 in the 2nd innings when the conditions are good for batting. Thus they will KEEP THEIR PLACE for another 10 matches and the results will continue. Perth is even worse than the previous pitches.

vazi
on January 4, 2012, 12:59 GMT

Continuation of previous comment...

Still you can play laxman and dravid at home and also ending up in winning few test series and attaining few individual records but as a team, it is of no use.Sachin will play for an year ( at least until he gets his magical 100th ton), so no need to think about no 4 spot now. These are harsh decisions, but no other go "Board" should do it.

on January 4, 2012, 12:58 GMT

the veneer, the carefully created ( part by media) facade of 'Captain Cool' is slowly but surely being exposed in the hard facts of a five day match . In the shorter versions it was camuflaged amidst brillaint individual performances at home ending in the worldcup win . Dhoni would also be rightly lauded for that & its an achievement that deserves all accolades ,. but sadly in the longer form of the game, the harsh realities cant be hidden for long - the weaknesses in batting, bowling and fielding too stand out stark naked and embrassingly so. The greatest fear is that India's global clout ensures that there is no overseas tour for the next two years & if the team think tank knows this ( & surely there are guys wily enough) then each one would play for his survival - contrbute just enuf to ensure one more home series . the old three - dravid , laxman & tendulkar can well be playing till 2014 on flat pitches where good ole Geoffrey's ma in law cant be dismissed & they bid adieu then!

on January 4, 2012, 12:58 GMT

This happens when team plays with 5~6 stars. It is pity that those stars even do not make up 50% of the damage.

here2rock
on January 4, 2012, 12:47 GMT

Dhoni needs immediate removal from being the captain of the team along with most of other members of the team. Flectcher needs to go as well. both keep saying how good the opposition is.

TRAM
on January 4, 2012, 12:47 GMT

I dont believe it is "common sense". It is Dhoni's non-sense and Ashwin has to defend it in the press. No other option for him. A player can not talk against his captain's strategies. Which bowler would prefer to bowl the day out without taking wickets ?? And didn't they realize that their stated goal of containing is not achieved?? Why did they not change their strategy even after seeing Aus scoring at 4+ rpo ? So there is no plane B ??

iplfansg
on January 4, 2012, 12:43 GMT

We have waited for so long for a series win in Aus and its not going to happen this time for sure. Dhoni decision to bad 1st on a new SCG pitch was incorrect..what is he scared off most... facing Lyon in 4th innings or the Aussie quicks on Day1 morning... its an easy decision. Ashwin is not a matchwinner anyway to bowl out Aus in the 4th innings.This is not the same SCG pitch of the past,even we know that...i cannot believe the Indian THINKTANK doesnt know that. Most IND Test failures are due Dhoni's bad captainship & ageing Indian batsmen who cannot move their feet... we need a change to avoid another 4-0 defeat.I agree with INDIANPUNTER... Aus did a collective overhaul after Ashes defeat but India just brushed off ENG defeats. Srikanth, Srivinivasan & Ashwin...all should leave indian cricket for good

on January 4, 2012, 12:42 GMT

There is some objectivity required by the Indian fans in this matter. We played good cricket outside India only when we had THREE OR FOUR BATSMEN IN FORM, producing long innings. Currently, that is not the case. What is the solution? I am not quite seeing any solution right now, frankly. May be drop Gambhir and include Rohit Sharma at the cost of a middle order batsman. But this is not going to guarantee any victory either. So, perhaps this is what we have and this is what we need to live with. We will want them to be world beaters, but not every team can become a world beater.

Biggus
on January 4, 2012, 12:40 GMT

The leviathan that until recently was the Indian batting line up has obscured a fundamental lack of imagination in their captain. Dhoni shows the same weaknesses as one that Ponting did as our Australian leader:-that is, if Plan A fails there is no Plan B. Captain 'Cool' is really Captain "Clueless'. There's no great shame in that. Some guys have it and some guys don't. The same traits that make a certain musician's pieces more interesting than others, the same things that give some scientists the ability to see things free of the restrictions of orthodoxy. We are talking of course of mental creativity. Sometimes it reveals itself in the intellectuality of a Mike Brearley. Sometimes it shows up in the animal cunning of Ian Chappell. The best captain I've seen in close to 40 years of following the game was Mark Taylor and I have no real explanation for that. He seemed outwardly so guileless and affable but he had it all. Just a really well balanced human being I guess.

Arunvilla
on January 4, 2012, 12:40 GMT

@atticusfinch rightly said dhoni must retire from test cricket and resign his captaincy
i never saw even a minnow team captain waiting for them to declare
he is clueless..
I hope india gets whitewashed because i want 5 things to happen
1.dhoni resign his captaincy and retires from tests
2.srikanth resigns
from his position
3.atleast two of the seniors retire though selfish guy will not retire..
4.need gautam gambir to get back form and hand over the test captaincy to him...seriously this things are not going to happen

Texmex
on January 4, 2012, 12:38 GMT

Spot on. Defensive captain. Bowlers who dont try new things like shot pitch bowling, fuller length - dont they have no one listening to the TV commentators?

Shanmughan
on January 4, 2012, 12:34 GMT

India will hope Clarke gets greedy and try to overtake Lara's record.Coz only Clarke or Rain gods can "turn this around" for India.
If that doesnt happen this could well be the biggest loss ever for India.

truebleue_cricfan
on January 4, 2012, 12:34 GMT

I just dont understand. With this 4 bowler strategy, India cannot afford to overbowl any bowler. That is why they resort to Sehwag and Kohli to fill in and thereby allow the bastmen to score freely. No need to hope that a wicket will be gifted to them. If they have someone like Irfan Pathan, it will give them a bowler and a batsman too. No need to use the Rainas, Kohlis and Sehwags then and cut out all wicket taking options. You dont see SL bowling Jayawardene or some other non regular bowler even though they are getting walloped by SA right now. Mathews and Perera are good bowlers in their own right and can take wickets. India have just allowed the game to drift by bowling these non regular bowlers far too often when they are gettign thumped.

da_man_
on January 4, 2012, 12:31 GMT

Wen you say India were able to bowl with control to smother the runs, the image I get is of a battery of spinners (including SRT) bowling wide of leg stump. Why not revive those shameless tactics lol?

sam911
on January 4, 2012, 12:26 GMT

When IPL rond the corner who thinks about putting an extra effort in a useless part of cricket a test match, if got injured the worlds only cricket event more important than any ICC event has beeen missed, so nobody ready to take the risk, if someone feel a slight hint of injury he became immediately unfit, to made himself available for IPL, where big money involved both in terms of match fees and also get icentive from Indian Bookie mafia, who is polluting the world cricket, and putting blame on every team except India. So dont worry this series has no significance wait for IPL to see ur heroes in actiin.

tick
on January 4, 2012, 12:25 GMT

what has happened to dhoni?? he was/is such an aggressive batsman..but his captaincy in tests especially, making misbah's captaincy look world class... why is he so defensive when he is naturally aggressive ...

vazi
on January 4, 2012, 12:24 GMT

India needs a rebuilding process before its too late. There is not much a problem in bowling department, it is all about our batting. I hardly see any scope for batting in a recent future. Sachin, Dravid, Laxman and ganguly ( spot is yet to be filled) are the players playing together since 1996 though dada retired some 3 years back.
It is very difficult to maintain the same rhythm over a decade and a half. So it is the prime time to think and act upon it. Give Dravid and laxman a series or two ( if they don't perform in this whole series) and ask them to retire themselves. Give Gambir a break and bring him back and play him at no 3. Open with Mukund and rotate Koli, Rohit and pujara in the middle order. Since india gonna play at home for another 18 months, it is the best period to start the rebuilding process. Youngsters ll have an ample time to settle down as a full fledged test team and to deliver their best.

rahulcricket007
on January 4, 2012, 12:23 GMT

AFTER THE DEFEAT AT MCG I SAID IT THIS TOUR WILL BE A WHITEWASH LIKE ENG & INDIA SHOULD STOP PLAYING TESTS ANYMORE . THEY SHOULD STEP DOWN AS A TEST NATION & SHOULD ONLY PLAY ODIS .

cricnitz
on January 4, 2012, 12:15 GMT

All those who want a new captain in Tests...is there anyone who can lead the team?
Gambhir /Sehwag ?? ..or you want Dravid to be captain? ...there is no other capable player , who can captain the team.

Happy_AusBang
on January 4, 2012, 12:05 GMT

Another thing to note is where the bowlers bowled to the batsmen. There were so few threatening balls that the perssure was relieved from the batsmen long ago. It is not the just the bowlers' fault, it is also the captain's. The captain and the bowlers didn't seem to note where the Australian bowlers were pitching when they got their wickets.

Marcio
on January 4, 2012, 12:04 GMT

It's interesting. Australia can't really declare early because there are still 3 whole days left. If they have a lead of say, 400, and India score 550 in rapid time, they might still be beaten on a deteriorating last two sessions' pitch.

FoollyFedUp
on January 4, 2012, 12:01 GMT

Disgraceful and unimaginative captaincy has resulted in this situation. Only God knows what MSD thinks about standing behind wickets. Surely cannot be cricket only, because even a novice would have done better.

jplterrors
on January 4, 2012, 12:00 GMT

Totally agree re the fielding they need to start throwing themselves around like NZ. Too many labourers not putting pressure out there.

satish619chandar
on January 4, 2012, 11:51 GMT

It is going to happen when a team can't score 300 and bowlers who don't look like having any plan to the batsman.. Just bowl a ball and get wicket if the batsman makes a mistake himself wont work for too long.. BCCI did all they can but no improvement from England series.. A draw should be celebrated as a win..

indianpunter
on January 4, 2012, 11:51 GMT

What an abject surrender and India is staring down the barrel, again! A review of the gutless Indian performance was called for after the disastrous England tour, but nothing happened. It was put down to the spate of injuries and the matter was swept under the carpet. Clearly, the malaise has worsened and the collective denial India has been under has to end. On the other hand, after the Ashes debacle, the australians had a major overhaul of their systems and it is working. The Indian system reeks of complacence, non chalance and high handedness with scant regard for the "fan". An overbearing board, a misfiring team and captain who shamelessly proclaims " we are poor starters" as an excuse for a defeat.

AtticusFinch
on January 4, 2012, 11:43 GMT

Dhoni's mindset at the least sign of pressure is well known and well documented. We have seen it time and again, especially of late in away tours. At the first sign of pressure, he switches off. He looks least interested in proceedings or the results (heavy defeats), there is no forward thinking (same players, ocassionally players like RP singh), no agression on the field, no motivational gestures to his players, just a cool, calm boredom. But the board and the selectors keep him as captain, god knows for what. Till the Indian team is rubbed down into the dirt? I say, keep him as captain for the ODI Team if you will and have someone else and that too ASAP, as captain for the Test team. Otherwise it is the death Knell of Indian Cricket. ODIs and T20s will not make a team.

No featured comments at the moment.

AtticusFinch
on January 4, 2012, 11:43 GMT

Dhoni's mindset at the least sign of pressure is well known and well documented. We have seen it time and again, especially of late in away tours. At the first sign of pressure, he switches off. He looks least interested in proceedings or the results (heavy defeats), there is no forward thinking (same players, ocassionally players like RP singh), no agression on the field, no motivational gestures to his players, just a cool, calm boredom. But the board and the selectors keep him as captain, god knows for what. Till the Indian team is rubbed down into the dirt? I say, keep him as captain for the ODI Team if you will and have someone else and that too ASAP, as captain for the Test team. Otherwise it is the death Knell of Indian Cricket. ODIs and T20s will not make a team.

indianpunter
on January 4, 2012, 11:51 GMT

What an abject surrender and India is staring down the barrel, again! A review of the gutless Indian performance was called for after the disastrous England tour, but nothing happened. It was put down to the spate of injuries and the matter was swept under the carpet. Clearly, the malaise has worsened and the collective denial India has been under has to end. On the other hand, after the Ashes debacle, the australians had a major overhaul of their systems and it is working. The Indian system reeks of complacence, non chalance and high handedness with scant regard for the "fan". An overbearing board, a misfiring team and captain who shamelessly proclaims " we are poor starters" as an excuse for a defeat.

satish619chandar
on January 4, 2012, 11:51 GMT

It is going to happen when a team can't score 300 and bowlers who don't look like having any plan to the batsman.. Just bowl a ball and get wicket if the batsman makes a mistake himself wont work for too long.. BCCI did all they can but no improvement from England series.. A draw should be celebrated as a win..

jplterrors
on January 4, 2012, 12:00 GMT

Totally agree re the fielding they need to start throwing themselves around like NZ. Too many labourers not putting pressure out there.

FoollyFedUp
on January 4, 2012, 12:01 GMT

Disgraceful and unimaginative captaincy has resulted in this situation. Only God knows what MSD thinks about standing behind wickets. Surely cannot be cricket only, because even a novice would have done better.

Marcio
on January 4, 2012, 12:04 GMT

It's interesting. Australia can't really declare early because there are still 3 whole days left. If they have a lead of say, 400, and India score 550 in rapid time, they might still be beaten on a deteriorating last two sessions' pitch.

Happy_AusBang
on January 4, 2012, 12:05 GMT

Another thing to note is where the bowlers bowled to the batsmen. There were so few threatening balls that the perssure was relieved from the batsmen long ago. It is not the just the bowlers' fault, it is also the captain's. The captain and the bowlers didn't seem to note where the Australian bowlers were pitching when they got their wickets.

cricnitz
on January 4, 2012, 12:15 GMT

All those who want a new captain in Tests...is there anyone who can lead the team?
Gambhir /Sehwag ?? ..or you want Dravid to be captain? ...there is no other capable player , who can captain the team.

rahulcricket007
on January 4, 2012, 12:23 GMT

AFTER THE DEFEAT AT MCG I SAID IT THIS TOUR WILL BE A WHITEWASH LIKE ENG & INDIA SHOULD STOP PLAYING TESTS ANYMORE . THEY SHOULD STEP DOWN AS A TEST NATION & SHOULD ONLY PLAY ODIS .

vazi
on January 4, 2012, 12:24 GMT

India needs a rebuilding process before its too late. There is not much a problem in bowling department, it is all about our batting. I hardly see any scope for batting in a recent future. Sachin, Dravid, Laxman and ganguly ( spot is yet to be filled) are the players playing together since 1996 though dada retired some 3 years back.
It is very difficult to maintain the same rhythm over a decade and a half. So it is the prime time to think and act upon it. Give Dravid and laxman a series or two ( if they don't perform in this whole series) and ask them to retire themselves. Give Gambir a break and bring him back and play him at no 3. Open with Mukund and rotate Koli, Rohit and pujara in the middle order. Since india gonna play at home for another 18 months, it is the best period to start the rebuilding process. Youngsters ll have an ample time to settle down as a full fledged test team and to deliver their best.